Turkey has no plans to enrich uranium

Energy Minister Taner Yıldız said Turkey has made no plans to enrich uranium in a speech he delivered at the sixth annual Ambassadors Conference on Wednesday.

“Suddenly the issue of uranium enrichment in Turkey has emerged. We [Turkey] have not made such a target,” Yıldız noted.

Explaining Turkey's nuclear power agreements, the energy minister underlined that such agreements are made with all countries under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Noting that Turkey has signed the civil nuclear deal, known as the 123 agreement, with South Korea, Canada, Argentina, Russia, the US and France, Yıldız said there are efforts to create a crisis from these agreements by saying that Turkey added an extra article on uranium enrichment to the agreements, as did Iran.

Stressing that there has been no risk in Turkey in terms of uranium enrichment, Yıldız said that before carrying out nuclear negotiations, Turkey had made agreements to ensure the peaceful use of these materials.

The P5+1 countries' interim accord with Iran in November 2013 halted the country's nuclear program for the first time in a decade. Iran's uranium enrichment will be halted for six months until a final settlement is reached, according to the deal. It will therefore be difficult for Iran to build a nuclear weapon during that period.

Turkey has welcomed an interim agreement reached between Iran and Western powers to curb Iran's nuclear program in exchange for the easing of sanctions on Iran after five-day-long marathon negotiations in Geneva.

Gül stated in a second tweet that he has been advocating a “solution through diplomacy” and that Turkey had been the host country for many diplomatic efforts to this end in the past.

“This is a major step forward. I hope it will be sealed with a final agreement soon. I congratulate all the parties for their constructive engagement,” Gül said.

“Turkey welcomes the positive result of the P5+1 negotiations process in Geneva over Iran's nuclear program at the end of the third tour. In this regard, we congratulate Iran and the P5+1 countries for their constructive efforts towards the process,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement in November 2013.